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'Merchant-Mushtaq's historic stand in England an inspiration'
As the hallowed turf of Lord's eagerly awaits the 100th Test
between India and England, the cricketing world will fondly
remember the heroics of two Indian openers - Vijay Merchant and
Mushtaq Ali - who came together to post the country's
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London: India lost
the 1996 series in England 0-1, but the golden debuts of Sourav
Ganguly and Rahul Dravid at Lord's, which eagerly awaits the 100th
Test match between the two countries, changed the way world looked
at Indian cricket in the years to come.
For Ganguly the series was a sort of comeback, having been dumped
after a lone ODI appearance in Brisbane in 1992, while for Dravid
it was his first taste of international cricket.
Ganguly went on to score a century - 166 - on debut in the second
Test while Dravid fell five short of a debut century. Had Dravid
scored a century it would have been the first instance of two
debutants from a same team scoring centuries. A year later
Pakistan's Azhar Mahmood and Ali Naqvi achieved the feat against
South Africa in Rawalpindi.
Ganguly and Dravid carried on in the same tone in the third Test
at Trent Bridge in Nottingham, which like the previous one was
drawn. Ganguly scored another century (136) and along with Sachin
Tendulkar (177) took India to a massive first innings total of
521. Dravid also scored a fine 84. Gangly went on to lift the Man
of the Match award.
Ganguly impressed with his off-side strokes, dissecting the field
with the finesse of a experienced pro. A young Dravid later called
the stylish left hander "next to god on the off side."
Another debutant, pacer Venkatesh Prasad took six wickets in the
first Test and ended with an impressive series haul of 15 wickets.
Prasad went on to become an important part of Indian attack in the
following years.
The Indian team, led by Mohammad Azharuddin, suffered a
eight-wicket defeat in the first Test at Edgbaston in Brimingham.
The batting collapsed against England's pace attack and
Tendulkar's fighting 122 in the second innings was the only
highlight of the match.
Before moving to Lord's for the second Test, India played a
three-day practice game against Derbyshire, which the visitors
lost by a massive 10 wickets. But Ganguly scored a gutsy 64 that
gave him a lot of confidence.
Recalling the practice match, Ganguly said: "The ball was swinging
and the weather was chilly. I decided to hang on. I told myself
that since I have played county cricket, I can score runs. The
innings gave me immense confidence and made me believe that I
belong to that place."
Injuries to Sanjay Manjerekar and Sunil Joshi opened the room for
two debutants at Lord's and rest is history.
"We were staying in a hotel just opposite Lord's. We walked down
to the ground and Azhar told me that I was in. It was a great
moment in my life. We made a poor start and I walked in at No.3.
(Alan) Mullally and (Dominic) Cork were bowling brilliantly and it
took some time for me to settle down," said Ganguly.
The former Indian captain says it was a great 94-run partnership
with Dravid.
"We both were young trying to cement our place in the team and we
backed each other. When I was in 90s I could see that Rahul wanted
me to score a century more than I did. It was unfortunate that he
could not get his century."
Ganguly said it was his bowling that gave him the confidence to
bat well at Lord's.
"I was bowling well. In the first innings I picked up two wickets
and my first Test victim was Nasser Hussain, for whom it was his
comeback series. Nasser took me lightly and ended up playing a
loose shot to Vikram Rathore. The two wickets gave me immense
confidence," said Ganguly.
Both Ganguly and Dravid led India's fight-back in the series that
has typified India's cricket in the following years. In the
subsequent tours to England, they also left their impressions as
captains. While Ganguly led India to a historic win in the Natwest
Trophy in 2002, chasing a 300 plus run target in the final against
Lord's, Dravid captained India to a 1-0 Test series win in 2007.
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